Academic Commons Search Resultshttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog?action=index&controller=catalog&f%5Bsubject_facet%5D%5B%5D=Criminology&format=rss&fq%5B%5D=has_model_ssim%3A%22info%3Afedora%2Fldpd%3AContentAggregator%22&q=&rows=500&sort=record_creation_date+desc
Academic Commons Search Resultsen-usThe Effects of Local Police Surges on Crime and Arrests in New York Cityhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:201487
MacDonald, John; Fagan, Jeffrey A.; Geller, Amandahttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8TX3FJGTue, 02 Aug 2016 23:33:38 +0000The New York Police Department (NYPD) under Operation Impact deployed extra police officers to high crime areas designated as impact zones. Officers were encouraged to conduct investigative stops in these areas. City officials credited the program as one of the leading causes of New York City’s low crime rate. We tested the effects of Operation Impact on reported crimes and arrests from 2004 to 2012 using a difference-in-differences approach. We used Poisson regression models to compare differences in crime and arrest counts before and after census block groups were designated as impact zones compared to census block groups in the same NYPD precincts but outside impact zones. Impact zones were significantly associated with reductions in total reported crimes, assaults, burglaries, drug violations, misdemeanor crimes, felony property crimes, robberies, and felony violent crimes. Impact zones were significantly associated with increases in total reported arrests, arrests for burglary, arrests for weapons, arrests for misdemeanor crimes, and arrests for property felony crimes. Impact zones were also significantly associated with increases in investigative stops for suspected crimes, but only the increase in stops made based on probable cause indicators of criminal behaviors were associated with crime reductions. The largest increase in investigative stops in impact zones was based on indicators of suspicious behavior that had no measurable effect on crime. The findings suggest that saturating high crime blocks with police helped reduce crime in New York City, but that the bulk of the investigative stops did not play an important role in the crime reductions. The findings indicate that crime reduction can be achieved with more focused investigative stops.Criminology, Law, New York (N.Y.). Police Department, Crime prevention--Evaluation, Policejaf45LawArticlesJuvenile Crime and Criminal Justice: Resolving Border Disputeshttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:199264
Fagan, Jeffrey A.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8SF2W6VThu, 19 May 2016 19:39:04 +0000Rising juvenile crime rates during the 1970s and 1980s spurred state legislatures across the country to exclude or transfer a significant share of offenders under the age of eighteen to the jurisdiction of the criminal court, essentially redrawing the boundary between the juvenile and adult justice systems. Jeffrey Fagan examines the legal architecture of the new boundary-drawing regime and how effective it has been in reducing crime.
The juvenile court, Fagan emphasizes, has always had the power to transfer juveniles to the criminal court. Transfer decisions were made individually by judges who weighed the competing interests of public safety and the possibility of rehabilitating young offenders. This authority has now been usurped by legislators and prosecutors. The recent changes in state law have moved large numbers of juveniles into the adult system. As many as 25 percent of all juvenile offenders younger than eighteen, says Fagan, are now prosecuted in adult court. Many live in states where the age boundary between juvenile and criminal court has been lowered to sixteen or seventeen.
The key policy question is: do these new transfer laws reduce crime? In examining the research evidence, Fagan finds that rates of juvenile offending are not lower in states where it is relatively more common to try adolescents as adults. Likewise, juveniles who have been tried as adults are no less likely to re-offend than their counterparts who have been tried as juveniles. Treating juveniles as adult criminals, Fagan concludes, is not effective as a means of crime control.
Fagan argues that the proliferation of transfer regimes over the past several decades calls into question the very rationale for a juvenile court. Transferring adolescent offenders to the criminal court exposes them to harsh and sometimes toxic forms of punishment that have the perverse effect of increasing criminal activity. The accumulating evidence on transfer, the recent decrease in serious juvenile crime, and new gains in the science of adolescent development, concludes Fagan, may be persuading legislators, policymakers, and practitioners that eighteen may yet again be the appropriate age for juvenile court jurisdiction.Criminology, Public policy, Law, Juvenile courts, Juvenile delinquency--Government policyjaf45LawArticlesPolicing Guns and Youth Violencehttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:199261
Fagan, Jeffrey A.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D81Z44GFThu, 19 May 2016 19:25:42 +0000To combat the epidemic of youth gun violence in the 1980s and 1990s, law enforcement agencies across the United States adopted a variety of innovative strategies. This article presents case studies of eight cities' efforts to police gun crime. Some cities emphasized police–citizen partnerships to address youth violence, whereas others focused on aggressive enforcement against youth suspected of even minor criminal activity. Still others attempted to change youth behavior through "soft" strategies built on alternatives to arrest. Finally, some cities used a combination of approaches. Key findings discussed in this article include:
Law enforcement agencies that emphasized police–citizen cooperation benefited from a more positive image and sense of legitimacy in the community, which may have enhanced their efforts to fight crime.
Aggressive law enforcement strategies may have contributed to a decline in youth gun violence, but they also may have cost police legitimacy in minority communities where residents felt that the tactics were unfair or racially motivated.
Approaches that emphasize nonarrest alternatives and problem-solving strategies offer an intriguing but unproven vision for addressing youth gun violence.
None of the initiatives presented in the case studies has been shown conclusively to reduce youth gun crime over the long term. The author suggests that policing alone cannot contain youth gun violence, but by carefully balancing enforcement with community collaboration, police departments can help shift social norms that contribute to youth gun violence.Criminology, Public policy, Law, Firearms and crime, Gun control, Youth and violencejaf45LawArticlesThe Contradictions of Juvenile Crime and Punishmenthttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:199258
Fagan, Jeffrey A.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D89G5MWNThu, 19 May 2016 19:06:54 +0000This essay explores the contradictions and puzzles of modern juvenile justice, and illustrates the enduring power of the child-saving philosophy of the juvenile court in an era of punitiveness toward offenders both young and old. The exponential growth in incarceration in the U.S. since the 1970s has been more restrained for juveniles than adults, even in the face of a youth violence epidemic that lasted for nearly a decade. Rhetoric has grown harsher in the wake of moral panics about youth crime, juvenile codes now express the language of retribution and incapacitation, yet the growth in incarceration of juveniles was attenuated and declined more responsively to declining crime rates. Almost no states have lowered the age of majority, even in the face of wholesale removal of juveniles to the criminal court. States have embraced the ideals and practice of small institutions, yet conditions in juvenile corrections often remain harsh and are common targets of litigation. Racial disparity still pervades juvenile incarceration, despite Congressional support of a collaborative project to reduce racial inequalities in juvenile detention and corrections. These conflicting trends portray an institutional and normative landscape that at once fears child criminals and seeks to punish them harshly, but at the same time pulls its punches as it adheres to the transcendent and enduring philosophy of child-saving.Criminology, Public policy, Law, Juvenile delinquents--Services for, Juvenile detention, Juvenile delinquents--Rehabilitationjaf45LawArticlesFollowing the Script: Narratives of Suspicion in Terry Stops in Street Policinghttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:199252
Fagan, Jeffrey A.; Geller, Amandahttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8JW8DZHThu, 19 May 2016 18:43:23 +0000Regulation of Terry stops of pedestrians by police requires articulation of the reasonable and individualized bases of suspicion that motivate their actions. Nearly five decades after Terry, courts have found it difficult to articulate the boundaries or parameters of reasonable suspicion. The behavior and appearances of individuals combine with the social and spatial contexts where police observe them to create an algebra of suspicion. Police can proceed to approach and temporarily detain a person at a threshold of suspicion that Courts have been unable and perhaps unwilling to articulate. The result has been sharp tensions within Fourth Amendment doctrine as to what is reasonable, why, and in what circumstances. The jurisprudence of suspicion is no clearer today than it was in the aftermath of Terry. This issue has taken center stage in both litigation and policy debates on the legality of the Stop and Frisk policing regime in New York. Under this regime, police record the bases of suspicion using both a menu of codified stop rationales with supplemental text narratives to record their descriptions of suspicious behaviors or circumstances that produced actionable suspicion.
Evidence from 4.4 million stops provide an empirical basis to assess the revealed preferences of police officers as to the bases for these Terry stops and identify narratives of suspicion that justify their actions beyond the idiosyncrasies of the individual case. First, we identify patterns of articulated suspicion. Next, we show the individual factors and social conditions that shape how those patterns are applied. We also show how patterns evolve over time and become clearer and more refined across a wide range of police stops. That refinement seems to follow the capacious interpretative room created by Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. Next, we assess the extent of constitutional compliance and examine the neighborhood and individual factors that predict noncompliance. The results suggest that the observed patterns of narratives have evolved into shared narratives or scripts of suspicion, and that these patterns are specific to suspect race and neighborhood factors. We conclude that scripts are expressions of the norms within the everyday organizational exercise of police discretion and that these scripts defeat the requirement of individualization inherent in caselaw governing Fourth Amendment stops.Criminology, Public policy, Law, Police regulations, Searches and seizures, Police discretionjaf45LawArticlesIntoxication and Aggressionhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:199276
Fagan, Jeffrey A.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8TD9XDKThu, 19 May 2016 18:28:34 +0000Evidence of an association between use of illicit substances and aggressive behavior is pervasive. But the precise causal mechanisms by which aggression is influenced by intoxicants are still not well understood. Research on intoxication and aggression often has overlooked the nonviolent behavior of most substance users, controlled use of substances, and the evidence from other cultures of a weak or nonexistent relation between substance use and aggression. There is only limited evidence that ingestion of substances is a direct, pharmacological cause of aggression. The temporal order of substance use and aggression does not indicate a causal role for intoxicants. Research on the nexus between substance use and aggression consistently has found a complex relation, mediated by the type of substance and its psychoactive effects, personality factors and the expected effects of substances, situational factors in the immediate settings where substances are used, and sociocultural factors that channel the arousal effects of substances into behaviors that may include aggression. Contemporary explanations of the intoxication-aggression relation offer only limited explanatory power in view of the occurrence of controlled use of substances, the mutability of cultural norms, and cross-cultural differences.Law, Criminology, Sociology, Drinking of alcoholic beverages--Social aspects, Aggressiveness, Drug abuse--Social aspectsjaf45LawArticlesCessation of Family Violence: Deterrence and Dissuasionhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:199273
Fagan, Jeffrey A.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D82Z15MTThu, 19 May 2016 18:15:24 +0000Family violence research has only recently begun to investigate desistance. Recent developments in the study of behaviors other than family violence, such as the use of addictive substances, suggest that common processes can be identified in the cessation of disparate behaviors involving diverse populations and occurring in different settings. Desistance is the outcome of processes that begin with aversive experiences leading to a decision to stop. Desistance apparently follows legal sanctions in nearly three spouse abuse cases in four, but the duration of cessation is unknown beyond short study periods. Batterers with shorter, less severe histories have a higher probability of desisting than batterers with longer, more severe histories. Victim-initiated strategies, including social and legal sanctions plus actions to create aversive experiences from abuse (e.g., divorce and loss of children) and social disclosure, also lead to desistance. Batterers are more resistant to change when they participate in social networks that support and reinforce violence to maintain family dominance. Desistance may also actually be displacement, where a violent spouse locates a new victim.Law, Criminology, Social structure, Criminal behavior, Family violence--Researchjaf45LawArticlesGuns, Youth Violence, and Social Identity in Inner Citieshttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:199270
Fagan, Jeffrey A.; Wilkinson, Deanna L.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8BG2P2WThu, 19 May 2016 18:02:32 +0000While youth violence has always been a critical part of delinquency, the modern epidemic is marked by high rates of gun violence. Adolescents in cities possess and carry guns on a large scale, guns are often at the scene of youth violence, and guns often are used. Guns play a central role in initiating, sustaining, and elevating the epidemic of youth violence. The demand for guns among youth was fueled by an "ecology of danger," comprising street gangs, expanding drug markets with high intrinsic levels of violence, high rates of adult violence and fatalities, and cultural styles of gun possession and carrying. Guns became symbols of respect, power, identity, and manhood to a generation of youth, in addition to having strategic value for survival. The relationship between guns and youth violence is complex. The effects of guns are mediated by structural factors that increase the youth demand for guns, the available supply, and culture and scripts which teach kids lethal ways to use guns.Law, Criminology, Social structure, Youth and violence, Firearms and crime, Firearms ownershipjaf45LawArticlesCrime and Workhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:199267
Fagan, Jeffrey A.; Freeman, Richard B.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8KW5G2VThu, 19 May 2016 17:42:10 +0000Crime and legal work are not mutually exclusive choices but represent a continuum of legal and illegal income-generating activities. The links between crime and legal work involve trade-offs among crime returns, punishment costs, legal work opportunity costs, and tastes and preferences regarding both types of work. Rising crime rates in the 1980s in the face of rising incarceration rates suggest that the threat of punishment is not the dominant cost of crime. Crime rates are inversely related to expected legal wages, particularly among young males with limited job skills or prospects. Recent ethnographic research shows that involvement in illegal work often is motivated by low wages and harsh conditions in legal work. Many criminal offenders "double up" in both legal work and crime, either concurrently or sequentially. This overlap suggests a fluid and dynamic interaction between legal and illegal work. Market wages and job opportunities interact with social and legal pressures to influence decisions to abandon crime for legal work. Explanations of the patterns of legal and illegal work should be informed by econometric, social structural, and labeling theories. The continuity of legal and illegal work suggests the importance of illegal wages in research and theory on criminal decision making.Law, Criminology, Social research, Criminal statistics, Labor laws and legislation, Criminal behavior--Economic aspectsjaf45LawArticlesNative Americans/Criminal Justicehttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:190432
Marks, Ryan McCoy; Smith, Raymond Arthurhttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8ZK5G7DMon, 02 Nov 2015 11:03:18 +0000According to studies and statistics, crime rates among the Native American population are much higher than the national average. On top of this, it has been found that Native Americans experience crime more so than the general population. Native Americans are incarcerated at a 38% higher rate than the national average, with suicide rates and abuse of these Native Americans being more common in prison than so for other racial groups. The higher association with crime (perpetrating and victimization) is something very interesting to note and investigate.Political science, Native American studies, Criminology, Indians of North America--Crimes against, Indians of North America--Criminal justice system, National crime victimization survey report, Federally recognized Indian tribesrmm2221, ras33Political ScienceReportsThe Collateral Consequence of the War on Drugs: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Experience of Daughters Who Experienced Paternal Incarceration as a Result of the War on Drugshttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:189511
Clayton, Karima A.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D89S1QB9Fri, 11 Sep 2015 15:07:08 +0000The purpose of the current study was to examine the lived experience of adult daughters whom had fathers incarcerated when they were in middle childhood as a result of a drug related offense. According to statistics, the United States criminal justice system currently houses nearly 2.3 million individuals, an increase of nearly 500 percent in the last 30 years. While African-Americans make up approximately 13 percent of the current population in the United States, they make up nearly half of the incarcerated population. Many believe that the War on Drugs has contributed to the increase in the numbers of individuals incarcerated and to the sentencing disparities which exist. In 1980, approximately 41,000 individuals were incarcerated due to a drug related offense and estimates indicate that this number is now nearly half a million.
With the staggering numbers of individuals who are currently incarcerated, many have begun to examine the collateral consequence of incarceration which is the effect on family members. Research conducted relating to family members has focused on the physical, behavioral, as well as psychological effects of the incarceration on the family member. A primary area of study related to how incarceration impacts families has focused on children of incarcerated parents and statistics estimate that nearly ten million children have experienced having a parent incarcerated at some point in their lives. In addition, approximately 90 percent of incarcerated parents are fathers and Black children are eight or nine times more likely than White children to have an incarcerated parent. Minimal research exists which allows the child to share the experience in their own words and no research exists specifically examining the experience of children solely impacted by the War on Drugs. The current study was exploratory in nature and examined the experience of and effects of paternal incarceration as experienced by daughters whose fathers were incarcerated when they were in middle childhood as a result of a drug related offense. Interviews were conducted with 10 participants and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was utilized to analyze the collected data. IPA is a type of qualitative data analysis which provides in depth examination of human lived experience. During the analysis five superordinate themes were identified which included The Need for Transparency- “I just wanted to know the truth”, The Broken Family Unit- The Father’s Absence, The Stain of Incarceration – “Life was never the same”, Buffers and Barriers to Adjustment, and Becoming Independent – Fear of Relying on Others. In addition, subthemes were identified within the superordinate themes which captured the uniqueness of the participant experience of paternal incarceration. Results revealed some similarities in experience and also confirmed how different the experience of individuals can be who experience paternal incarceration. Implications for practice are also discussed.Counseling psychology, Criminology, African American studieskac2174Counseling PsychologyDissertationsRaise the Age: Legislation Reform for the Juvenile Justice Systemhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:188124
Spivack, Laura Pearlhttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8TD9WN9Tue, 08 Sep 2015 11:12:59 +0000Juvenile justice policies in New York State put adolescents at risk for experiencing trauma in the criminal justice system. As a result of their precarious stage of development and limitations in brain functioning, adolescents face grave consequences when prosecuted and sentenced as adults. Adolescents need to be given sustainable solutions through rehabilitation in order to discourage recidivism upon release. Juvenile justice is not accomplishing its goals of lowering crime rates, nor is it working to reduce recidivism. These realities, in addition to theory, help to prove that reform is necessary.Social work, Criminology, Juvenile delinquency, RecidivismSocial WorkArticlesA Historical Perspective on Crime in Twentieth-Century Mexico Cityhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:184977
Piccato, Pablo A.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8NS0SSPFri, 27 Mar 2015 17:27:09 +0000This paper is an overview of perceptions of crime in Mexico City during the twentieth century. After a brief review of quantitative evidence and the main sources on crime, the paper surveys police and judicial corruption as the common denominator of public perceptions of crime, punishment, and the judiciary. The paper then discusses gender violence and juvenile delinquency as two criminal practices that have characterized the impact of crime in everyday life. Based on a review of evidence about areas of the city commonly associated with crime, the paper concludes with a discussion of the reactions of urban communities and civil society against crime.Latin American history, Criminologypp143HistoryWorking papersEl Saber Sobre el Crimen: Rudos contra Expertos en la Ciudadhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:184971
Piccato, Pablo A.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8P26X1TFri, 27 Mar 2015 12:51:38 +0000Los dos libros que aquí se reseñan vienen a complicar de una manera saludable esta imagen del saber sobre el crimen como pancracio.Tanto Enrique Desmond Arias, al estudiar el narcotráfico en Río de Janeiro, como Daniel M. Goldstein, al examinar linchamientos en un barrio de Cochabamba, identifican la complejidad de actores e intereses reunidos por el problema del crimen. El Estado es un actor entre otros, generalmente más notable por su ausencia o su colaboración con los criminales que por su papel punitivo o preventivo. En este articulo, Pablo analiza los libros de Enrique y Goldstein para entrar la discusión sobre el tema del crimen en sudamerica. Pablo concluye que el crimen es difícil de definir pero lo que es cierto es que está hecho de relaciones que generalmente son públicas, a veces conflictivas y, aunque cueste admitirlo, productivas.Criminology, Latin American studiespp143HistoryArticlesCommunities and Crime in Mexico Cityhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:185478
Piccato, Pablo A.http://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8FJ2FPPFri, 27 Mar 2015 12:13:29 +0000In Mexico’s capital, understanding the city means understanding crime, and vice versa. More specifically, it means taking some distance from prevailing policy-oriented criminological perspectives and reintegrating the problem of crime into urban history. Asking question to crime from a historical perspective requires a critical use of views of Mexico City as a chaotic, dangerous, dirty city. More useful is asking how is it that people continue to come and stay and build communities in the largest city of the hemisphere in spite of great obstacles. The answer involves a complex picture, where the small detail is as important as the broader landscape.Sociology, Criminology, Latin American historypp143HistoryArticlesOn Death's Doorstep: The Racially Stratified Impact of the Michigan Self-Defense Act and Why Race-Centric Advocacy is Not the Answerhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:184455
Wolf, Jacob Simonhttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8DJ5DJ9Fri, 13 Mar 2015 15:52:50 +0000On July 20, 2006, Michigan joined the growing number of states to enact “Stand Your Ground” legislation. These statutes marked a dramatic expansion of the common law Castle Doctrine by allowing individuals to employ deadly force against assailants without first considering whether there were reasonably available avenues of retreat to safety. This Note first examines the effect of the Michigan Self-Defense Act on the state’s legal landscape, ultimately concluding that the law provides individuals with an over broad license to use deadly force in situations that could be resolved peacefully. This leads to the creation of a “shoot first” culture in which individuals feel empowered to resort to violent self-defense tactics without first evaluating alternative available means. This Note argues that the shoot first culture enabled by the Act poses a disproportionate threat to Black Americans due to the longstanding subconscious associations of Blackness with criminality. Black Americans thus face a significantly greater likelihood of being incorrectly perceived as threatening, and, coupled with the statute’s expansive permit to use deadly force, killed by those who opt to stand their ground. The Note also argues that race-centric advocacy strategies opposing Stand Your Ground laws are likely to be polarizing and ineffective, and instead proposes a shift to principles grounded in empathy and dialogue.Law, Criminologyjw3035LawArticlesStolen Happinesshttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:184398
Bermudez, Fernandohttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8WS8S4CFri, 13 Mar 2015 10:28:05 +0000The wrongful arrest and conviction of Fernando Bermudez demonstrates the American criminal justice system being forced to correct itself, despite public faith in jury trials, because Mr. Bermudez fought to exonerate himself after losing ten appeals. Mr. Bermudez’s essay entails his over eighteen-year wrongful incarceration in New York until proven “actually innocent” in 2009. This essay urges reform and accountability of mistaken eyewitness identification, perjured testimony, and police and prosecutorial misconduct as factors that began Mr. Bermudez’s ordeal in 1991. In particular, this essay examines how race, rushed judgment, and profit may have contributed to Mr. Bermudez’s ordeal while aiming to prevent the overall public safety and human rights problem of the innocent in prison and mass incarceration.Law, Criminology, Bermúdez, Fernando, Criminal law, Race relations, False imprisonment, Human rightsLawArticlesMass Incarceration of Native Americans and Latino Americanshttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:183515
Bruce, Sivan Moriah; Smith, Raymond Arthurhttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8Z60MWWMon, 23 Feb 2015 11:04:47 +0000This issue brief focuses on exploring the relationship between Native Americans and Latinos in the United States. Additionally, this brief will shed some light on the over-representation of Native American and Latino populations in the criminal justice system.Native American studies, Latin American studies, Criminologysmb2243, ras33Political ScienceReportsAmerica Works' Criminal Justice Program: Providing Second Chances Through Workhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:177784
Eimicke, William B.; Cohen, Steven Alanhttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D89W0D2NWed, 01 Oct 2014 15:11:39 +0000This report presents a case study of a new program developed by America Works, Incorporated, to assist released prisoners reenter the world of work. The report describes the substantial problem presented by America’s growing prison population, and the related challenge to society by released prisoners. The costs and benefits of programs to train ex-convicts for jobs are discussed. Finally, a profile of America Works and its efforts to assist released prisoners is provided. The paper concludes that the America Works program has been effective in finding private sector employment for ex-offenders.Criminology, Social workwbe1, sc32International and Public AffairsReportsUnderstanding the Arrest Experiences of Women with Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Posttraumatic Stress Disorders: An Application of General Strain Theoryhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:175501
Kenney, Jenniferhttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8BG2M3HMon, 07 Jul 2014 11:34:14 +0000Through the lens of general strain theory (Agnew, 1992), this dissertation examined the associations between arrests and the strains experienced by women with co-occurring substance use and posttraumatic stress disorders. Much of the research that has been conducted to better understand the experiences of female offenders shows that women in the criminal justice system are disproportionately affected by emotional and economic struggles such as substance use, trauma, depression, lower levels of education, lower employment achievement, and limited social support when compared to women not involved in the criminal justice system (Bloom, Owen, Covington, 2002; Chesney-Lind & Pasko, 2004; Chesney-Lind & Pasko, 2013; Freeman, 2000; Hayword, Kravitz, Goldman, & James & Glaze, 2006; Salisbury & Van Voorhis, 2009; & Warren, Hurt, Loper, Bale, Friend, & Chauhan, 2002).
This study tested for associations between women's arrest and their strain experiences of drug use, alcohol use, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, education, employment, and social support using data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse's (NIDA) Clinical Trials Network (CTN), Protocol #15 titled "Women's treatment for trauma and substance use disorders: A randomized clinical trial." Based on current research and general strain theory, I hypothesized that increased strain would be associated with a higher likelihood of arrest.
In this study, I found that increased arrest was associated with increased levels of education and employment achievement. Increased education and employment achievement were also associated with increased severity of arrest type when crimes were categorized by no arrest, substance-related arrest, non-violent arrest, and violent arrest. Finally, I found that increases in alcohol and posttraumatic stress strain over time were associated with a higher likelihood of subsequent arrest.
The results of the first two analyses were contrary to my hypotheses. One conclusion that can be drawn is that neither education nor employment strain are related to the increased likelihood of arrest or type of arrest. Alternatively, these results may show that the education and employment achievement scales were not adequate measures of strain because neither of the scores incorporated measures for subjective feelings of education or employment strain. It is also possible that the levels of education and employment achievement were a source of strain because they represented a failure of sorts for women who had hoped to attain higher levels of education and employment, especially after committing to a treatment program aimed at supporting them as they attempted to change their lives and begin their recovery from substance abuse.
Results of the third analysis were consistent with my hypotheses. These results provide two important areas of focus for social work clinicians, policy makers, and researchers in their attempts to reduce women's criminal justice involvement. If severity of alcohol and posttraumatic stress strain were addressed, and subsequently reduced in treatment programs, these results suggest that this would help reduce women's likelihood of arrest. All of these results call for further testing of what constitutes women's strains and the relationships between these women-specific strains and arrest.Social work, Criminology, Women's studiesSocial WorkDissertationsIssue Brief: People with Disabilities and Criminal Justicehttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:171528
Klosinski, Thomas ; Smith, Raymond Arthurhttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D8RX9943Mon, 10 Mar 2014 14:01:43 +0000In this issue brief, there will be a discussion of the unfair persecution of person with disabilities, how they are more likely to be victimized, and once trialed, if the death sentence is an appropriate sentence.Political science, Criminologytk2458, ras33Political ScienceReportsSexual and Non-Sexual Juvenile Offenders: Developmental Antecedents and Behavioral Outcomeshttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:161625
Sofocleous, Gretchen Thomashttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:20483Thu, 30 May 2013 14:09:48 +0000The three papers included in this dissertation are based on data from a larger cross-sectional survey study which explores the causes and patterns of sexual aggression by adolescent males incarcerated in residential treatment. The sample of interest included 504 male adolescents who were adjudicated delinquent and sanctioned to residential treatment for the commission of sexual and non-sexual crimes. Paper 1 includes a descriptive snapshot of the individual and family characteristics, childhood experiences, child maltreatment histories, childhood exposure to nudity and sexual activity, sexual crime characteristics, as well as non-sexual crime characteristics of juvenile sex offenders in residential treatment. Paper 2 focuses on the family characteristics and childhood experiences that predict group membership in juvenile sex offender and juvenile delinquent groups. Finally, paper 3 explores those factors associated with the severity of sexual crime as well as the frequency of general delinquency among juvenile sex offenders in residential treatment.Social work, Criminologygmt11Social WorkDissertationsFighting Bodies, Fighting Words: A Theory and Politics of Rape Preventionhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:157470
Marcus, Sharonhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:19257Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:40:06 +0000In this essay I propose that we understand rape as a language and use this insight to imagine women as neither already raped nor inherently rapable. I will argue against the political efficacy of seeing rape as the fixed reality of women's lives, against an identity politics which defines women by our violability, and for a shift of scene from rape and its aftermath to rape situations themselves and to rape prevention. Many current theories of rape present rape as an inevitable material fact of life and assume that a rapist's ability to physically overcome his target is the foundation of rape. Such a view takes violence as a self-explanatory first cause and endows it with an invulnerable and terrifying facticity which stymies our ability to challenge and demystify rape.Women's studies, Criminology, Rape--Preventionsm2247English and Comparative LiteratureBook chaptersDual Punishment: Incarcerated Mothers and Their Childrenhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:156721
Smyth, Juliehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:19030Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:50:20 +0000Children with incarcerated parents are among the most at-risk populations in the United States. The recent trend toward mass incarceration in the United States, especially of women, has harmful implications for children because often their primary caregiver becomes incarcerated. Research indicates that children with incarcerated mothers are at heightened risk for attachment disturbance, leading to depression, anxiety, and other trauma-related stress. Such children are often subject to frequent changing of caregivers within the foster care system, which exacerbates these problems. Child welfare legislation is becoming more sensitive to the needs of children of incarcerated parents, but less reliance on prisons and more alternatives to incarceration are needed in order to mitigate the harmful impact of maternal incarceration on children. This review will focus on the following: (1) a history of the mass incarceration of women; (2) emotional, psychological, and social risk factors for the children of incarcerated women; (3) the intended and unintended repercussions of child welfare legislation; and (4) a case study of an alternative to incarceration program.Social work, Individual and family studies, CriminologySocial WorkArticlesSuccessful Community Reentry After Incarceration: Exploring Intangible Aspects of Social Support During the Reintegration Processhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:156604
Kiczkowski, Ursulahttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:19027Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:23:40 +0000The United States prison population and rate of incarceration have climbed to the highest worldwide, and mass incarceration has become a concerning social issue. Research demonstrates that incarceration adversely affects social networks, increases risk factors for children of incarcerated parents, and economically and politically disenfranchises communities and neighborhoods. Through critical examination of the existing rubric of incarceration, reentry emerges as an integral point of intervention for social workers to disrupt the chronic cycle of recidivism and downward spiral caused by incarceration. While past research has provided a cursory knowledge of the risk and protective factors that predict reentry success, much remains obscure. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the intricate, recondite, and intimate ways that family members function to assist the formerly incarcerated individual during reentry. By analyzing data through a transactional social support paradigm, this paper expands upon and enhances existing literature on the implicit functions of familial social support during prisoner reentry. Implications for social work practice with formally incarcerated individuals are explored based on key findings from the study.Social work, CriminologySocial WorkArticlesMental Health Courts: An Interface Between Social Work and Criminal Justicehttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:156757
Roberts, Lesliehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:19021Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:11:22 +0000Mental health courts (MHCs) are emerging as a critical element in the nationwide effort to counter overcrowding in the US prison system and more adequately address the plight of offenders who are diagnosed with a mental illness. The goals of MHCs, an example of problem-solving courts, are to improve the quality of life for those involved in the criminal justice system, link clients to community treatment resources, and reduce recidivism and crime rates in a more cost-effective manner than within the traditional criminal justice process. This article provides a brief history of MHCs, including the rationale behind their initial implementation, an overview of their clientele and process, a review of the role social workers play, arguments for and against their broader introduction, and specific research recommendations to better ascertain their current and future effectiveness. Although MHCs are still too nascent to draw broad conclusions about their rates of efficacy, early results are promising.Social work, Mental health, Criminologyler2115Social WorkArticlesEthnographies of Contentious Criminalization: Expansion, Ambivalence, Marginalizationhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:153188
Terwindt, Carolijn Evahttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:14864Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:28:03 +0000This dissertation addresses the challenge of liberal democracies to deal with fundamental conflicts in society about, for example, political representation and natural resources, and the subsequent transfer of such conflicts into the criminal justice arena when actors fail to deal with competing demands in the political arena. In an exploration of tensions between law and justice, and the competing conceptions of "crime" and "harm," this work analyzes criminalization processes in three contentious episodes: the Chilean-Mapuche territorial conflict, the Spanish-Basque separatist conflict, and the eco-conflict in the United States. Although prosecutors invariably asserted their independence and the democratic mandate to "simply" enforce the law, this dissertation describes the gradual politicization of criminal proceedings as opposing actors implicated in the political struggle move into the criminal justice arena and make it subject to and the space of claim-making. This study not only challenges the belief that criminal law can be applied in an independent and neutral manner. Taking a constructivist perspective on the prosecutorial narrative and analyzing how mobilization and discursive action of "victims" and "prisoner supporters" aim to push or challenge criminal prosecutions, it describes in detail the ways in which such conflictive and interpretive processes fundamentally alter the logic and development of criminal prosecutions.Criminology, Cultural anthropology, Lawct2273Law, EpidemiologyDissertationsA simulation model of pretrial felony case processing: A queuing system analysishttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:150553
McAllister, William; Atchinson, James; Jacobs, Nancyhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:14212Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:25:52 +0000Case processing tends to be examined with data analysis or evaluation designs. Both limit our understanding of how case processing as a whole operates and how its parts relate to each other. This article suggests queue simulation modeling as a method for dealing with these issues. We report here the initial development and analysis of a queuing model of arraignment to trial assignment. Conceptualizing on the basis of court functions and empirical findings, rather than institutional structures, we conceive a five-stage pretrial process. Using case-level, rather than system-level data, we construct a single-server, multiphase queuing model and use the model to simulate the behavior of a pretrial case processing system. Simulations show the strong impact of the final phase (trial assignment) on the entire system and that most of this impact is delay rather than service. The system is then analyzed using a factorial design that systematically alters model parameters thought to be important determinants of performance. Simulations are run for each possibility in the design, and analysis of variance is used to examine results. Analysis confirms prior results concerning final phase impact and points specifically to the import of phase capacity and exit rate. The utility of modeling is considered by suggesting some policy implications of the results for judicial staffing and behavior.Organizational behavior, Criminologywm134Institute for Social and Economic Research and PolicyArticlesComments on "Measuring Racial Profiling"https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:147771
Stodden, Victoria C.http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13493Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:39:12 +0000Discussion of a quantitative analysis of race and criminal justice.Criminologyvcs2115StatisticsPresentationsThe Effect of Job Training Programs at a Juvenile Correctional Facility in Japanhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:146980
Wada, Kenji; Toda, Akihito; Kazuki, Tomurahttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13246Fri, 18 May 2012 14:35:24 +0000We consider the effect of characteristics of prison inmates in general and the job training program participation in particular on the recidivism in Japan. By employing individual level dataset from a Kawagoe Juvenile Correctional Facility, we find that some of the inmates characterstics will lower recidivism and the participation in job training is effective in lowering the probability of re-entry into prison.Economics, Labor, CriminologyCenter on Japanese Economy and BusinessWorking papers"Removing the Bars: Take Action": Kickoff Keynote Eventhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:146570
Davis, Angela Y.http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:13116Thu, 03 May 2012 12:47:28 +0000Opening remarks by Ronin A. Davis, co-chair of the Criminal Justice Caucus; spoken word performance by IMPACT; introduction of keynote speaker by Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York; keynote address by Davis; question and answer session facilitated by Cheryl Wilkins, associate director of the Criminal Justice Initiative: Supporting Children, Families, and Communities; "Making the Invisible, Visible," depicting the variety of ways people have been impacted by the criminal justice system, facilitated by Kathy Boudin, director of the Criminal Justice Initiative, and Mika'il Deveaux, executive director of Citizens Against Recidivism; closing remarks by Natasha Orilus, co-chair of the Criminal Justice Caucus.Public policy, Criminology, LawSocial WorkPresentationsAsian American Communities and Issues of Criminal Justicehttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:137915
Saldana, Rafael; Smith, Raymond Arthurhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:11035Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:16:23 +0000Understanding of issues related to criminal justice within the Asian American community can only be achieved by breaking down the analysis into the individual ethnic communities composing the larger group.Asian American studies, Criminologyrag2215, ras33Political ScienceReportsMinority Religions and Criminal Justicehttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:137596
Njoroge, Maxcina; Smith, Raymond Arthurhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:10975Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:03:25 +0000This brief will illuminate the challenges that minority religions face in exercising their rights.Religion, Criminologymwn2103, ras33Political ScienceReportsIssue Brief: Disabled Persons and Violence in the UShttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:137433
Lefker, Jacob; Smith, Raymond Arthurhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:10929Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:22:45 +0000This brief encapsulates an effort to acknowledge the ways in which violence affects disabled individuals. It examines the abuse of mentally and/or physically disabled people as well as the physical and mental repercussions of the violence experienced by veterans.American studies, Criminologyjbl2139, ras33Political ScienceReportsIssue Brief: Latinos and Violence in the United Stateshttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:137423
Duron, Angelica; Smith, Raymond Arthurhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:10926Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:03:24 +0000The following issue brief examines Latino violence in terms of hate crimes perpetrated against members of this ethnic group. It compares data between ethnoracial groups and attempts to describe the cause of the increase in anti-Latino hate crimes.Hispanic American studies, Criminologyald2153, ras33Political ScienceReportsIssue Brief: Arab Americans and Criminal Justicehttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:137419
Christensen, Annika; Smith, Raymond Arthurhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:10925Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:57:27 +0000This issue brief will focus on the most salient current issue pertaining to Arab Americans and criminal justice: racial profiling against Arab Americans in the criminal justice system. This brief will explore the recent roots of such profiling and its manifestations after September 11 on national and local levels.American studies, Criminologyawc2129, ras33Political ScienceReportsIssue Brief: Social Economic Status/Class Criminal Justice in the U.S.https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:137321
Perez, Jose Stephen; Smith, Raymond Arthurhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:10907Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:21:09 +0000This brief focuses on the relationship between social economic status and the criminal justice system. In general, people pertaining to the lower class—versus the white collar and the elite class— are more likely to be: incarcerated, charged, convicted, sentenced to prison, and punished with longer prison terms.Criminologyjsp2152, ras33Political ScienceReportsJuvenile Justice in the U.S.: Facts for Policymakershttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:135894
Gottesman, David M.; Schwarz, Susan Wilehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:10756Wed, 20 Jul 2011 10:52:44 +0000Recent research shows that the human brain continues to develop throughout adolescence, with the pre-frontal cortex – the section of the brain responsible for executive function and complex reasoning – not fully developing until the mid-twenties. Because adolescents' brains are not fully matured, their decision-making and thought processes differ from those of adults. For example, it is developmentally normative for adolescents to take greater risks and show greater susceptibility to peer influences than adults. These otherwise normal differences can contribute to behaviors that lead to involvement with the juvenile justice system. Beyond developmental influences, additional risk factors associated with youth ending up in the juvenile justice system are cognitive deficits, low school involvement, living in poverty, or being runaway or homeless. Just over two million youth under the age of 18 were arrested in 2008. Of these two million, about 95 percent had not been accused of violent crimes, such as murder, rape, or aggravated assault. In 2010, of the nearly 100,000 youth under the age of 18 who were serving time in a juvenile residential placement facility, 26 percent had been convicted of property crimes only, such as burglary, arson, or theft. For nonviolent youth involved in the juvenile justice system, incarceration in traditional residential placement facilities often does more harm than good. These large residential facilities are ineffective at providing the services and rehabilitation these youth need, and this lack of capacity contributes to high recidivism rates (rearrest within one year of release). Reliance on these residential placement facilities is an inefficient use of taxpayer money, not only with regard to the funds needed to keep youth in these facilities, but also the future lower wages and lost productivity that often follows for these youth. Reform efforts must place a greater focus on improving access to mental health services for all youth, better serving the needs of youth who are involved in the juvenile justice system, and creating effective alternatives to traditional residential placement facilities. Proper treatment and rehabilitative services can help many youth currently in the juvenile system become healthy and productive members of society.Criminology, Mental health, Developmental psychologydg2575, sws19National Center for Children in PovertyReportsWitness intimidationhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:99652
O'Flaherty, Brendan Andrew; Sethi, Rajivhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:15439Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:20:48 +0000Witness intimidation is a fundamental threat to the rule of law. It also involves significant strategic complexity and two-sided uncertainty: a criminal cannot know whether his threat will effectively deter a witness from testifying, and a witness cannot know whether the threat will in fact be carried out. We model this interaction and explore the manner in which equilibrium rates of intimidation, testimony, and conviction respond to changes in prosecutorial effectiveness, police-community relations, and witness protection programs. An increase in prosecutorial effectiveness raises the incentives for criminals to threaten witnesses but also makes these threats less credible. Sometimes the rise in threats will be large enough to drive down the rate of conviction, with the paradoxical outcome that better prosecutors may convict fewer criminals. Direct attempts to reduce witness tampering may also prove counterproductive. When the harm faced by a witness itself depends on whether or not the criminal is convicted, communities can be trapped in equilibria with collective silence: no witness testifies because none expects others to testify.Criminologybo2, rs328Economics, Economics (Barnard College)Working papersPeaceable kingdoms and war zones: Pre-emption, ballistics and murder in Newarkhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:99669
O'Flaherty, Brendan Andrew; Sethi, Rajivhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:15444Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:26:46 +0000Between 2000 and 2006 the murder rate in Newark doubled while the national rate remained essentially constant. Newark now has eight times as many murders per capita than the nation as a whole. Furthermore, the increase in murders came about through an increase in lethality: total gun discharges rose much more slowly than the likelihood of death per shooting. In order to explain these trends we develop a theoretical model of murder in which preemptive killing and weapon choice play a central role. Strategic complementarity amplifies changes in fundamentals, so areas with high murder rates (war zones) respond much more strongly to changes in fundamentals than those with low murder rates (peaceable kingdoms). In Newark, the changes in fundamentals that set off the spiral were a collapsing arrest rate (and probably a falling conviction rate), a reduction in prisoners, and a shrinking police force.Criminologybo2, rs328Economics, Economics (Barnard College)Working papersRacial stereotypes and robberyhttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:112755
O'Flaherty, Brendan Andrew; Sethi, Rajivhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:357Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:56:09 +0000Robbery is a serious, widespread and sometimes violent crime resulting each year in costs to victims of several billion dollars. Data on the incidence of robbery reveals certain striking racial disparities. African Americans are more likely to be victims, arrestees and prisoners than are members of other demographic groups, and while black-on-white robberies are very common, white-on-black robberies are extremely rare. The disparities for robbery are also much greater than those for other crimes of acquisition. We develop a model of robbery that attempts to address these and other stylized facts. The key insight underlying the model is that robberies are typically interactions between strangers which involve a sequence of rapid decisions with severely limited information. Potential offenders must assess the likelihood of victim resistance, and victims must assess the likelihood that resistance will be met with violence. Racial disparities in the distribution of income can cause such probability assessments to be race-contingent, affecting crime rates as well as rates of resistance and violence. We argue that this model helps account for several empirical regularities that appear puzzling from the perspective of alternative theories of crime.Criminologybo2, rs328Economics, Economics (Barnard College)Working papersThe effect of paternal incarceration on material hardshiphttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:129670
Schwartz-Soicher, Ofira; Geller, Amanda B.; Garfinkel, Irwinhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:9844Mon, 28 Feb 2011 12:51:30 +0000Widespread use of incarceration in the US, coupled with high rates of inmate fatherhood, has raised concerns for the wellbeing of more than two million affected children. The deleterious and long term effects of incarceration on men's financial and relationship stability are well-established. Incarceration also compromises family material wellbeing, and partners are at risk of hardship and stress, which may diminish capacity for positive parenting and harm children's development. However, little is known about the links between father incarceration and family material wellbeing. Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing survey we examine the extent to which fathers' incarceration increases the material hardship experienced by their families. We find that incarceration indeed increases hardship for families, by both reducing household income and disrupting family relationships and routines. These findings underscore the need for criminal justice agencies and social service providers to help mitigate the risks associated with a father's incarceration.Criminology, Individual and family studiesos2172, abg2108, ig3Social Work, Columbia Population Research CenterWorking papersBeyond absenteeism : father incarceration and child developmenthttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:129666
Geller, Amanda B.; Cooper, Carey E.; Garfinkel, Irwin; Schwartz-Soicher, Ofira; Mincy, Ronald B.http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:9843Mon, 28 Feb 2011 12:39:21 +0000High rates of incarceration among American men, coupled with high rates of fatherhood among men in prison, have motivated recent research on the effects of parental imprisonment on children's development. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the relationship between paternal incarceration and developmental outcomes for approximately 3,000 urban children. We estimate cross-sectional and longitudinal regression models that control not only for fathers' basic demographic characteristics and a rich set of potential confounders, but also for several measures of pre-incarceration child development and family fixed effects. We find significant increases in aggressive behaviors among children whose fathers are incarcerated, and some evidence of increased attention problems. The estimated effects of paternal incarceration are stronger than those of other forms of father absence, suggesting that children with incarcerated fathers may require specialized support from caretakers, teachers, and social service providers. The estimated effects are stronger for children who lived with their fathers prior to incarceration, but are also significant for children of nonresident fathers, suggesting that incarceration places children at risk through family hardships including and beyond parent-child separation.Criminology, Individual and family studiesabg2108, ig3, os2172, rm905Social Work, Columbia Population Research CenterWorking papersChild maltreatment and crime: new evidence from a sample of twinshttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:129476
Currie, Janet M.; Tekin, Erdalhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:9787Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:17:43 +0000Child maltreatment is a major social problem. This study measures the effects of child maltreatment on crime using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). We focus on crime because it is one of the most costly potential outcomes of maltreatment. Our work addresses many limitations of the existing literature. First, we use a large national sample, and investigate different types of abuse in a similar framework. Second, we pay careful attention to controlling for possible confounding factors by comparing male twins and by controlling for differences in genetic endowments that have been linked to aggression and risk taking behaviors. We find that maltreatment greatly increases the probability of engaging in crime and that programs to reduce maltreatment would be cost-effective.Criminology, Individual and family studiesjc2663Economics, Columbia Population Research CenterWorking papersGender Needs Assessment for Mekelle City, Ethiopiahttps://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:125879
Kong, Lucyhttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:8746Mon, 10 May 2010 10:00:49 +0000This needs assessment is focused explicitly on achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment,. The research for this study was conducted in Mekelle, the capital city of the Tigray National Regional State, situated 780 kilometers north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. MCI’s research has shown that attention to gender equality has increased across all sectors of Mekelle society. Nevertheless, significant gaps still exist. Violence against women, including rape, remains a problem.This needs assessment puts forward a number of practical interventions to help strengthen support for enforcing the rights of girls and women.Women's studies, Sub-Saharan Africa studies, CriminologyMillennium Cities InitiativeWorking papers